Posts by Linda Harris59

cosmicorca16 said:Riley?

You’re really out here arguing with a nurse about whether hospitals are full and staff are struggling, expecting us to take your word over hers? 😵

If I remember right and mellowskipper isn't in healthcare, then my bad.

There are anti-vax doctors out there, too. If you want to put your faith in them instead of me, be my guest.

mellowskipper said:What exactly do you mean by "breaking point"?

Sent from my Galaxy S10 using Reddit

You’re talking about hospitals reaching capacity and medical staff being pushed to their breaking point over a mild, virtually harmless illness where the mortality rate is one in a million.

Betty Gonzalez912 said:These kinds of populist "arguments" just leave a bad taste in my mouth.
So, by that logic, if the mortality rate drops to one in a million, are lockdowns still justified? If not, where exactly do we draw the line on when measures should be lifted?

Why is it that during flu season—which is milder than COVID, let's be clear—no one ever pushes for strict mandates using that same reasoning: if we save even one life through heavy restrictions, then it’s worth it...

You’re talking complete nonsense here. If the mortality rate were actually down to one in a million, we wouldn't be calling this a pandemic, our hospitals wouldn't be overflowing, and our healthcare workers wouldn't be reaching their breaking point.

The panic-mongers say:
Bill Gates can do whatever he wants, we all know how this works...

With 25,000 initial Omicron cases in the USA, 85 have been hospitalized... We already know Omicron makes up about 60% of all cases in the States.

Honestly, everything points to the fact that the virus has weakened, even if it is more contagious.

This literal nightmare is finally coming to an end—unless, of course, the ultimate goal isn't actually containing the virus at all. ☕

So, seriously, get off our backs and just let us live! It’s getting ridiculous; I've seen kids starting to draw self-portraits wearing masks. Enough is enough!!!

Go tell that to the twenty and thirty-somethings who refused the vaccine and ended up dying from COVID. There aren't many of them, sure, but maybe they could have been saved if it weren't for people like you spreading constant panic.

Not every single case is being screened specifically for the Omicron variant.

Samuel Turner2 said:What kind of ads are you talking about?
The guy is a doctor based in the USA and he consistently puts out updates on Corona in the States and everywhere else.
In this video, he’s breaking down Omicron and some of the latest studies.
I honestly don't see what the big deal is...

If you actually sat through the video, it would be incredibly helpful if you provided a brief summary here—just a few sentences—so anyone interested can get the gist without having to hunt for it.

Posting a link without any context or summary is just classic clickbait designed to farm views.

We are here to engage in actual discussion, not to serve as free promotion for some random video that’s just fishing for views.

I'm not clicking on that. I refuse to fall for those cheap clickbait tactics designed to flood you with ads.

mellownomad7 said:Lambda is going to be a total nightmare.
This Omicron thing feels like some weird middle-ground variant, basically just preparing for the end of pandemics.

Cheers,

Preparing for the end of pandemics.

Benjamin Brooks2 said:What does any of that have to do with doctors?

It's just basic Chemistry.🙏

Structural analyses of available receptor-binding domains show that the infectivity of certain coronavirus strains can be linked to mutations within these domains.
A review of mutation changes in the amino acid sequences and secondary structures of the receptor-binding domains of SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV shows they are critical in interacting with the host cell membrane receptor.

In SARS-CoV, the receptor-binding domain consists of two α-helices and five β-sheets whereas in SARS-CoV-2 it consists of
four α-helices and ten β-sheets..

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Wow, what kind of conspiracy theory is that?😵

The increased number of α-helices and β-sheets allows for more hydrogen bonds between the receptor-binding domain and the ACE2 receptor, which is linked to the increased infectivity of SARS-CoV-2.

Oh, I bet the college-educated moderators will call this a conspiracy theory now.😁

Crystal structures of the ACE2 and receptor-binding domain complexes for SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV were analyzed. The analysis established that in SARS-CoV, the binding domain and the ACE2 receptor are connected by seven hydrogen bonds, one covalent bond, and one electrostatic interaction..

Meanwhile, in SARS-CoV-2, the binding domain and ACE2 are connected by eleven hydrogen bonds and one electrostatic interaction..

Lucky me, I actually paid attention in religion class.😁

Additionally, on the contact surface between ACE2 and the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain, key amino acids were identified as being responsible for maintaining their connection.

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This includes the amino acid residues Glu35, Tyr83, Asp38, Lys31, Glu37, and His34
of the ACE2 receptor, along with the amino acid residues Gln493, Gln498, Asn487, Tyr505, and Lys417 of the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain. Precisely because of the higher number of formed hydrogen bonds, the ACE2:receptor-binding domain complex of SARS-CoV-2 is more tightly and stably bound. This is further supported by the strength of the hydrogen bonds formed. Based on the distance between donor and acceptor, hydrogen bonds are categorized by strength as strong (2.2–2.5 Å), medium (2.5-3.2 Å), and
weak (3.2-4.0Å), with the hydrogen bonds formed between ACE2 and the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain falling into the medium-strength category, while those between ACE2 and the SARS-CoV receptor-binding domain fall into the weak category.

Once you read this, you'll have to go put on some leggings.😁

The SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD) actually shows a much stronger affinity for ACE2 compared to the SARS-CoV RBD. We also learned something interesting about this interaction through cryo-electron microscopy. It turns out that while the SARS-CoV RBD stays mostly upright, the SARS-CoV-2 RBD tends to sit in a more reclined position, which makes it less available to bind with the ACE2 receptor. The downside
to this reduced availability is that it helps hide the domain from the immune response. While SARS-CoV relies on TMPRSS2 for proteolytic processing to enter cells, SARS-CoV-2 can also be proteolytically activated by furin alongside TMPRSS2. This furin activation allows SARS-CoV-2 to break into certain cells that don't have much TMPRSS2 on their membranes.

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Now they're going to try and explain how a satellite antenna works on a lunar rover to us. 🙏

We’ve spent years listening to anti-vaxxers claim that every single scientist is just a paid shill for Pfizer, working overtime to push their vaccines.

Look at what happened in Japan. The virus died out there, yet instead of the scientific community giving credit to vaccine-induced herd immunity—which would have lined Pfizer's pockets with billions more—they actually stated that the virus simply burned itself out!

How can you reconcile that? Anti-vaxxers constantly preach that scientists are forced to act as walking advertisements for the jab. Yet here we see them doing the exact opposite by claiming the virus vanished on its own.

Consider this another anti-vaxxer myth thoroughly debunked.

Samuel Turner2 said:Meanwhile, for the pro-vaxxers, the high vaccination rates are their only metric. 😁

Honestly, I’m starting to think there's a third factor at play here...

That sounds exactly like the logic being used by scientists over in Japan.

They didn't claim that high vaccination coverage or herd immunity was the driver; they argued the virus essentially neutralized itself through mutation.

Here's a thought: how should we interpret that doctor's statement?

We’ve been conditioned to believe that every single physician is just a mercenary for Pfizer, tasked with pushing vaccines down our throats. Yet, when doctors in Japan suggest the virus simply mutated itself out of existence, it completely shatters the anti-vax narrative. It doesn't fit their worldview at all.

Nathan Evans78 said:At this point, it’s turning into a total tragicomedy. We really need at least another month just to get the facts straight regarding this new strain, yet somehow everyone is already acting like an absolute expert on the whole situation. 😵

If you actually bother to re-read my previous post, you’ll see that I clearly stated my position makes sense. In Japan, they are still actively researching this entire phenomenon, and in a free society, people are perfectly entitled to express their opinions.

It doesn't matter when the final scientific studies are released—the anti-vax crowd isn't going to believe them anyway. They’ll just pivot to their usual excuse about Ivermectin. 😁

Ronald Howard3 said:The whole "self-destructing virus" theory in Japan doesn't quite sit right with me. It makes more sense that we've hit a tipping point where enough people have immunity that the virus hasn't managed to mutate fast enough to bypass it. That isn't the virus killing itself off—it's just how our natural defenses work.

Actually, it does make sense. Because vaccination rates were so high, the Delta variant was able to seize total dominance. It kept mutating relentlessly until it eventually transitioned into something else—something harmless.

It’s likely just a natural mechanism. We've seen this pattern play out throughout history.

Samuel Turner2 said:I’ve gotta say, I’m having a really hard time buying this whole thing about Delta committing suicide in Japan... 🤔

There is actually some logic to it. If a virus keeps mutating indefinitely, eventually it’s going to lose its edge and its core properties.

boldotter2 said:The big thing with Omicron is that, so far, it's mostly just caused a stir because of all its mutations and how different it is from the original strain. So, again, right now, caution is really just a scientific precaution. For the third time now, I don't think there's a medical reason to panic.

As it stands, Omicron is way more contagious than Delta, and usually, high contagiousness means the virus causes milder illness.

Let's hope—knock on wood, fingers crossed, and maybe a little prayer or meditation—that we're finally moving into a phase where the people in charge catch up to our level...

We might actually find a historical precedent for this. Like the H1N1 virus transitioning from a pandemic to seasonal flu. Or maybe that OC43 coronavirus that people think caused the 1890 pandemic before it became a regular cold. It took flu two years to settle down, and maybe five or six for the other one.

Or maybe this is all just more wishful thinking, just like every other time we've dealt with this junk. The next two weeks will be the real test. ☕

It feels to me like we are approaching the end of the pandemic if a highly contagious but harmless variant becomes dominant. Look at Japan, for example, where Delta essentially wiped itself out by being too aggressive.

Jesse Hughes6 said:It isn't senseless because we are strictly talking about comparing the robustness of acquired immunity.

It’s complete nonsense. To actually build up natural immunity, you would have had to face the virus head-on without any preventative measures, essentially gambling with your life and risking a fatal outcome.

quietranger132 said:Here’s just one more prime example of today's pandemic marketing—and by that, I mean the coordinated efforts of the task force and their paid-for media outlets like CNN.

The news and the headlines read like this:
https://www.cnn.com/news/article/...h/2321554.aspx
The CDC issued a statement regarding Omicron: It bypasses immunity more easily and is mostly being found in younger people...
"This variant has an increased ability to evade immunity, though vaccines should still provide high protection against hospitalization and death."
Omicron is more frequent among the youth.

Not long before that, on that very same mercenary news site, there was a report from the doctors who actually discovered this variant:
https://www.cnn.com/news/article/...i/2321550.aspx
US COVID doctors: Omicron doesn't cause severe illness.
"The symptoms of this new variant are unusual, but mild."

The sheep haven't quite figured it out yet.

It stands to reason.

The Omicron variant emerged from regions where vaccination rates were practically non-existent. That is precisely why this specific mutation gained such massive traction; it evolved to bypass even the natural immunity people had already built up.

Ronald Chavez2 said:I have to admit, those comparative studies are quite clever, aren't they? I've come across several articles that always seem to pair vaccination against the combination of vaccination plus prior infection, only to triumphantly declare that the latter provides superior protection. People run away from comparing vaccination solely against natural immunity as if they're fleeing a demon, surely out of purely altruistic motives rather than the fact that such a comparison would cost Pfizer and its associates a fortune, wouldn't it?

That comparison is fundamentally flawed because the entire point of vaccination is preventative protection.

Thomas Cook said:And if you actually bothered to read the linked article...

I did read it.

Of course a more lethal and contagious variant could emerge. Viruses mutate in completely unpredictable ways, and naturally, the variants that are most efficient at spreading are the ones that take hold. In my opinion, the absolute worst-case scenario would be a strain that is highly deadly but moves slowly—something that spreads silently through the population and only starts triggering symptoms after a significant amount of time has passed. That’s when you really get hit.

Japan is the light at the end of the tunnel here. Over there, the virus essentially mutated itself into extinction.

Thomas Cook said:If you're a data junkie, you might want to skip this one.

A warning from a German doctor: If the coronavirus keeps mutating, we could see a variant just as lethal as Ebola.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/zimo.dn...---685888.html

I haven't read the full article, but I can certainly comment on the logic here.

Ebola is actually so incredibly lethal that it remains globally manageable because it kills off its host before it even gets the chance to spread effectively. Get it? When you're standing next to a dead man, he isn't exactly breathing down your neck.

Secondly, there is no "if." The coronavirus is going to continue mutating—that is simply how viruses function. I have been stating this repeatedly: the larger the pool of immunocompromised and unvaccinated individuals, the greater the opportunities for new mutations to arise.

The silver lining is that when a virus mutates excessively, it often ends up destroying itself. It reaches a point where it mutates so much that it ceases to be the same virus entirely and just vanishes. Viruses are merely passing through. We need to get vaccinated so we don't get swept away while they're making their way through.

Benjamin Brooks2 said:It’s about intelligence. You clearly lack it if you can't connect two pieces of data.

I explained that the virus enters the cell via the ACE2 receptor.

That receptor varies between Asian, African, and European populations... I gave you a chart, so Wand can analyze the numbers for you. 😁

It's obviously too complicated for you. Why isn't anyone debating this in public? 🤦

Studies have found that SARS-CoV-specific monoclonal antibodies and recombinant ACE2-Ig can potently neutralize SARS-CoV-2, and a hexapeptide of the receptor-binding domain of the spike protein binds to ACE2, thus blocking SARS-CoV entry

Clearly there are other ways to stop the virus, but they chose vaccines.

Question: Aren't you embarrassed by not grasping the basics? What part didn't you get—that the ACE2 receptor itself also mutates like the virus? Or will vaccines cause mutations in that ACE2 receptor and give us COVID-25?

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What if it turns out, say, Asians have a different ACE2 receptor that prevents the virus from entering cells? Could someone then violate the Constitution or the UN Charter by forcing movement restrictions without vaccination?

You haven't actually explained a single thing here; you just dropped a link to a scientific paper that clearly went right over your head.

Look, I’m not the least bit ashamed to admit I don't know the specifics of the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor. That isn't my field of expertise, and frankly, it shouldn't be. The intricate mechanisms behind angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 are fascinating subjects for actual specialists—people who have spent years studying this stuff—not for us casual users on a forum who are clearly out of our depth. This research was published by top-tier experts in epidemiology, dermatology, molecular biology, and translational medicine. You can certainly choose to posture and pretend you possess a superior understanding of these complex biological processes, but in my view, trying to act smarter than the scientists who actually conducted the work only serves to make you look ridiculous.

It is my firm belief that only those who possess absolutely zero actual knowledge feel the desperate need to masquerade as an expert on everything under the sun. I’ve encountered plenty of people like this in my own career—individuals who talk loudly and confidently about subjects they clearly haven't spent a single hour studying, simply to mask their own profound ignorance. Real expertise doesn't require such a constant, performative display; true intelligence usually comes with the humility to admit what one doesn't know.

You’re completely missing the big picture here. If you actually took the time to sit down and read my post properly, you would see that my argument is entirely cohesive and logically sound.

The fundamental mechanism at play here is quite simple yet devastatingly effective: the virus essentially hijacks the cellular machinery to replicate itself within the host cells.
The virus simply replicates more aggressively within an organism that lacks sufficient immunological protection. When the body's defenses aren't primed to recognize the threat, the pathogen finds much more fertile ground to multiply.
It is a fundamental biological reality that when a virus cannot replicate itself with absolute precision, it inevitably triggers mutations. This isn't just some theoretical speculation; it is how the mechanism works. If the replication process is flawed or imprecise, you end up with genetic variations. It’s a direct consequence of the instability during the copying phase.
The mathematical reality here is quite simple: as the number of mutations climbs, we are essentially looking at an increased statistical probability that the virus will develop resistance to any immunity gained through vaccination. It’s a matter of basic evolutionary pressure. The more the genetic makeup shifts, the higher the chance that the existing antibodies simply won't recognize the target anymore.
That fifth mutation—the one specifically designed to evade the immunity we built up through vaccination—is inevitably going to become the dominant variant in highly vaccinated nations like the United States. It’s an unavoidable biological progression. When you have a massive portion of the population with a specific immunological profile, the virus eventually finds its way around those defenses, and once it does, that particular strain takes over. It's simply how evolution works in these environments.

Go ahead, flex those intellectual muscles and put that massive knowledge of yours regarding the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor to good use. Try your hand at disputing what I’ve laid out above. If you're feeling up to the challenge, be a gentleman and break down exactly where I'm wrong, point by point.

Michelle Bennett5 said:I was just laying out the mechanism here. We could go down a rabbit hole debating the actual numbers and all the different variables involved, if you really want to go there.

Is it more about how long mutations take (cycles) or the sheer force of selection
in a host? All these variants are basically fighting a war to claim cells. In an unvaccinated person, a super mutation doesn't actually have much of a comparative edge; usually, some mid-level strain just crowds everything else out.
But in someone who's vaccinated? A super mutation could have a decisive advantage.

Just because something is unlikely doesn't mean it's impossible.

If the entire population were 100% vaccinated, sure, there wouldn't be a virus. But in a partially vaccinated society, there's always going to be a "reservoir."

Look, Boldano, you’re missing the point entirely. You are conflating two completely different issues here.

Duration. Mutation is fundamentally a numbers game when it comes to quantity. It’s quite simple, really: if the host's immune system is compromised or poorly defended, the virus is allowed to replicate much more aggressively and for a significantly longer duration. This prolonged period of unchecked replication creates a massive surge in the total viral load, and from a purely statistical standpoint, that higher volume inevitably leads to a greater number of mutations. It's basic biological math.

"We need much more rigorous selection processes. "In the host"—you could certainly frame it that way. At the end of the day, we’re looking at a simple matter of survival of the fittest: the mutation that proves most adept at evading the immune system is the one that eventually takes the lead. This isn't some debate about whether someone is vaccinated or not; the biological mechanism remains identical across both groups. Evolution doesn't care about our politics or our medical choices. It follows a strict, unyielding principle: those mutations that are better adapted to survive will always prevail. Plain and simple, the virus evolves.

The situation we’re seeing in Japan is actually quite a fascinating case study. You have a highly fractured landscape where one specific delta variant became so overwhelmingly dominant that it effectively crowded out every other strain. But here’s the kicker: it mutated so aggressively to maintain that dominance that it ultimately engineered its own downfall. It essentially optimized itself right into a corner. In an unfragmented population, you don't see this kind of singular, suffocating dominance from one mutation, which means there's always a diverse pool of variants left to survive and carry on. On the flip side, when we use vaccines to heavily favor one specific mutation, we end up creating a scenario where that strain looks like it's actively sabotaging its own survival by driving the evolution toward something else entirely. It's a strange, self-defeating cycle.

If we continue down this path of aggressively vaccinating against and essentially playing favorites with one specific mutation, we might witness a scenario no one actually predicted: the virus effectively committing suicide.